ghanaadvantage.com

Friday, 11 July 2008 -  It is undeniable that mortgage financing is vital to every economy because it accounts for a sizeable portion of a country’s productive activity through backward linkages to land and labor markets, as well as related industries.  Since it is inextricably linked to a country’s economic development, apart from strengthening financial institutions, promoting social stability and improving people’s lives, the sector should have by now seen enormous growth, culminating in affordable houses for Ghanaians.

At the individual level, housing finance or mortgage - the pledging of a property to a lender as a security for a mortgage loan not only enables access to homeownership but also to meet basic needs – a means of economic empowerment.

However, the current situation is  not altogether to be encouraging because only the rich or a few people are able to access to it.  With a population of over 22 million, Ghana currently has a labour force of over 11.29 million and its economic fortunes are looking brighter with a per capita income of $1,400 as at 2007.

An analysis of housing conditions reveals that on a national basis, 48.9 percent of all Ghanaian households live in accommodation associated with the compound (44.5 percent live in compound rooms).

Another 25.3 percent lives in separate houses and 15.3 percent resides in semi-detached houses.